The Georgia Southern baseball team snapped a six-game losing skid with a 10-6 Sun Belt Conference victory over the South Alabama Jaguars on Friday evening at J.I. Clements Stadium. Georgia Southern will look to take the series on Saturday afternoon.
The Jaguars (8-10) got on the board first with a RBI-single , but two flyouts later ended the top of the first inning without any more damage. Georgia Southern (8-10) scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a commanding lead after Jesse Sherrill scored on a double play, Jarrett Brown came home on a passed ball, and Luke Hatcher earned his first home run at Georgia Southern with a huge three-run blast to center field. South Alabama would begin to claw back in the top of the third inning with two more runs, but the Eagles responded with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Noah Ledford scored from a double play and Blake Evans ran home on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Eagles put up three more to start to distance themselves from South Akabama, when Jarrett Brown cranked his second homer of the season with a three-run blast to left-center field, putting the Eagles up 10-3 after six innings. South Alabama would score two in the top of the eighth inning and one in the top of the ninth inning, but the Eagles pitching prevented any further damage from being done and sealed the conference victory.
Ty Fisher earned his second victory of the season after a seven inning performance, where he only allowed three runs to cross the plate and sat down six Jaguar batters, allowing no walks in 99 pitches. Jay Thompson earned his fourth save of the season after pitching a third of an inning, after sitting down the Jaguar batter with the tying run on deck.
QUICK HITS
- Luke Hatcher earned his first Division I home run in the bottom of the first inning, a three-run shot to center field.
- Three Eagles pitchers combined for nine strikeouts: starter Ty Fisher had six, Thomas Ross had two, and Jay Thompson sat down the only batter he faced.
- Luke Hatcher and Jesse Sherrill both led the way for the Eagles offensively, both with two hits on the night. Hatcher also had three RBI.
UP NEXT
Georgia Southern looks to take its third-consecutive series from the South Alabama Jaguars on Saturday, March 18. First pitch from J.I. Clements Stadium is set for 2 p.m.